Category Archives: photos

I guess we all have our on definition of what serene means to us. To me sitting quietly on a beach and watching the waves wash ashore is the epitome of serenity. But there are many other things that bring me peace and joy. I love sitting on my back porch and watching the wild birds.

And working in my garden which by the way is coming along great so far. All most all of the radishes I transplanted last week took and that makes me so happy. It was an experiment. I was not sure if one could transplant radishes but I knew I had to thin them out and I just can’t stand to throw away any plant. So now I know. And the two new rows I planted are all peeping out of the ground. One row is the same as the others that are almost ready to gather, I got one this morning, and the other row are white radishes which I have never grew or even eaten but I will now.

And every thing else is coming along. We had mustard for dinner one day last week and could gather more now but I’ll wait a few days and see if my sister-in-law wants some when she comes to our family Christmas party this weekend. The collards are also ready and I plan to have some for Christmas dinner along with the ham and other fixings (fixings is a good old southern word for what else one might cook.)

Collards

And as you can see the lettuce is almost ready to gather some for a nice salad but I’ll give it a couple more days. We’re eating out tonight but my husband doesn’t know it let. I’m just too busy to cook.

I won’t bore you with photos of all the other vegetables but I do have a few tomatoes and one bell pepper. I hope the critters don’t get my pepper again. They’ve stolen the last two before they were big enough for me to pick. I’ve put Cayenne pepper powder on them to deter the unwelcome guest. We’ll see if that works.

Morning Glories are temporary flowers but oh so pretty. They usually only last a day but I look forward to going out in the early morning and seeing them in bloom. It is a beautiful way to start the day. This year I planted several colors but all that grew seem to be the blue. Oh well, I’ll just be thankful for what I have.

My vegetables are doing well and I am so happy with them. We should have fresh mustard for dinner tomorrow. I wanted to have it tonight but I kept flagging around and I thought it was too late to gather some today. I like to gather my greens early in the morning.

mustard

The collards, onions, radishes, broccoli, cabbage all are growing nicely.

Last Friday we made cages for the tomatoes and we have several small tomatoes on the plants.

And I predict we will be able to have lettuce from our garden in a couple more weeks.

This is the first time I’ve tried to grow lettuce in containers. I researched it and they say it can be done so we shall see. All I can say is so good so far.

I also planted some red cabbage in containers last week; just to try, I never grew red cabbage before.

My hot peppers are doing great. We really don’t eat them so I will pickle them and find someone who likes spicey. They are pretty and fun to grow. The sweet peppers had a nice sized pepper but some varmint decided he needed it more than I do. I will put cayenne pepper on the plants and that should deter him. Those peppers are for my grandson so the varmint does not know who he is fooling with.

Thank you for stopping by. I hope you have a blessed day and will come back soon.

Last Friday my seven-year old grandson had the day off school and I was blessed to get to have him for the day

He and I had a picnic at a wilderness park that he loves dearly. Of course he had to share some of his lunch with a curious squirrel. I bet that rascal just hangs out close to the tables because he knows most humans have a soft heart and will give him some of whatever they are eating.

After we ate we hiked on the boardwalk and climbed the tower (I don’t like the tower but you can’t let a seven-year old go up there by himself.)

It was a pleasant afternoon and even the animals were enjoying the beautiful weather so we got a peek at the wildlife inhabitants.

gators

turtles

birds

I won’t bore you with all the photos but trust me there were several different gators, turtles, herons, crows, blue jays and many others. I am so glad we had this time together and took a peek at the animals’ life and homes; making memories that will last a lifetime.

Thank you for stopping by and please come back soon until then take a walk in nature, you might be surprised how much you will enjoy it.

I promised an update on my garden, so since I will have my wonderful grandson tomorrow I thought I better get this done tonight.

As you can see from the photo above it is coming along just fine. Look closely at the mustard. I do believe we will be eating some in the next couple of weeks. What do you think? I can hardly wait. I absolutely love reaping the result of my hard work. Like collards mustard greens is an acquired taste either you will or will not like them.

Remember I told you about planting the radishes, beets and carrots last week? Well most of the tiny plants are peeping out of the soil. You can see the radishes but the other two will need a little longer before they will be easily seen in a photograph.

If you are wondering about the straw it is hay; part of the compost from my chicken pen. My chickens pay for their keep in more ways than one. It’s a good thing I get compost because right now most of them are molting and I’m only getting one egg a day. I know the egg comes from Amera because it is blue and she is the only one that lays blue eggs. And another factor that figures in to the “no egg production” is the shorter days. They don’t lay as much when they have less sunshine. However, we should change time soon; fall back, so we will be eating eggs again.

Thank you for stopping by. I will keep you updated on the garden. I’m so happy it is doing well. God truly blesses me. Until next time happy gardening and God bless.

No pun intended. I was looking for a photo with something ’round’ for this week’s photo challenge and I found these taken a while back. They are different from a lot of mushrooms I’ve seen and I think they are pretty. Of course, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, right? I’m always snapping a photo of something, but aren’t we all. That is why we love our challenge every week.

I find mushrooms when we go hiking and sometimes just in my yard. I know some are edible but since I don’t know which are I won’t take a chance. I’ll just continue to click away with my camera.

Speaking of edible I know it is time for an update on my vegetable garden and I promise to do that in the next couple of days.

Thank you for stopping by and looking at my photos. Until next time. God bless.

I like to go for a three-mile walk every morning just to try and stay healthy. I usually try to go around seven o’clock before it gets so hot. This morning it was very nice; over cast and a nice breeze. The breeze always helps. There is one hill that almost kicks my butt so I celebrate with a big drink of water when I crest it. Small treats that makes one smile. This grasshopper doesn’t have anything to do with my walk but I love his colors and was happy when I was able to capture his photo; another small treat. God gives us so many things to be thankful for and we don’t have to look hard to find them.

So what does grasshoppers and walks have to do with a row of ants? Nothing really, I guess, except they are God’s creatures. But as I’m walking I always notice these cars on one street I have to cross. They are lined up like a row of ants waiting to get on the main highway and get to work or whatever. People are so busy. I once was a member of that rat race before I retired. And I guess they don’t have a single thing to do with Shiny unless you can claim their headlights. But it is interesting to see. Just a few of my Monday thoughts.

This beauty is said to only bloom at midnight. A very dear friend of mine gave me a cutting of this plant and I as so thankful to her. She warned me that it only bloomed late

at night. So this year it is loaded with flowers and I just had to sneak out that at 4:30 this morning before I went for my morning walk and grab a peek. I was so excited when I saw this wonderful flower. Yes, of course I had to pick one of the blooms and take snapshots to share with y’all.

I have so many butterflies in my yard this year it is amazing. Of course someof my flowers are paying the price but I’ve planted enough to share with them and still have plenty for myself. Some of the caterpillars love my Dutchman’s Pipe vine and I have to keep a sharp eye out so they don’t eat enough to kill it. And I do have Monarch but I haven’t been able to snap a photo of them yet but I will keep trying.

I love sitting at my dining table or out on my back porch with a nice cup of coffee early in the morning and watch them dance from one flower to the other. They even share with the humming birds.

I just had to share these pictures with y’all. I hope where ever you are that you are blessed with butterflies and birds. I court them as God’s beautiful blessings.

Thank you for stopping by until next time don’t just stop and smell the flowers also relax and watch the butterflies.

I haven’t posted lately because I don’t go on my computer when it is thundering and lightning. Foolish … maybe, because I have a circuit breaker but I’m rather be cautious than have lightning strike my machine. We have had our share of storms in the last few days. That is a good thing since our water table is low. There is a restriction on what days one can water their gardens and lawns even if you have a private well. I usually don’t concern myself with such cares because I know God will give us what we need when we need it. The recent rains have helped the shortage a lot.

I won’t complain because I love everything about Florida; bugs, storms and all. When I was a child I was fortunate enough to go fishing with my Dad and brothers to Apalachee Bay thus began my interest in this state. Then we vacationed a couple of times in Naples and I was definitely hooked. I made a goal and told my parents “When I get grown I’m going to live in Florida.” Of course as typical parents go they didn’t take me serious. But here I am today fulfilling that goal.

We have the Gulf of Mexico on one side and if that is too tame for you we have the Atlantic Ocean on the other. Both sides have their plus and minuses. There is absolutely nothing that compares to the smell of salt water and walking along a sugar-sand beach with a tropical breeze ruffling your hair and the sun kissing your face. I will definitely visit other states and enjoy what they have to offer but I will always return to my wonderful piece of Florida. I hope you can come to visit and see what I’m talking about but be warned once you get the sand between your toes you will want to keep returning.